


wouldn't it be nice

by zach_stone



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Day At The Beach, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Newton Geiszler Recovery Arc, Post-Canon, really just the Most self indulgent thing u can imagine, thats the most valid tag on ao3 honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 09:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15531357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zach_stone/pseuds/zach_stone
Summary: Newt and Hermann spend a day at the beach.





	wouldn't it be nice

**Author's Note:**

> summer is almost over and i couldn't let that happen before i contributed a newmann beach fic (tm) to the mix. enjoy this absolute sappy nonsense.

The sea spray hit Newt as soon as he rolled down the car window, and he closed his eyes, breathing it in. He heard Hermann chuckle from the driver’s seat, and ducked his head back into the car.

“Smell that?” Newt asked, grinning. “God, I’m excited. When’s the last time we went to a beach that wasn’t decimated? I can’t remember seeing a beach without a kaiju skeleton on it in the past, like, decade.”

Hermann winced. “Perhaps we could put a more positive spin on things?”

“Right. Sorry.” Newt poked one hand out the open window, feeling the wind rush against his palm. “This is gonna be good, Hermann.”

Hermann didn’t reply, but he smiled a soft, private sort of smile that made Newt’s heart flip over in his chest. This was their first trip since — well, since Newt got his brain back from the clutches of an alien hivemind. It was pretty pathetic, as far as road trips went, seeing as the beach was only an hour’s drive from their apartment. Baby steps, Newt reminded himself. Baby steps and the chance to see Hermann in a bathing suit. It was a win-win.

The beach wasn’t particularly crowded, which is what they’d both been hoping for. It was late August, and people were still wary of the water regardless of the time of year or the fact that this was the wrong side of the ocean for interdimensional monster attacks. Hermann parked the car and they sat for a moment in silence, staring at the waves crashing lazily against the shore. Newt’s heart jumped to his throat and he hated the thrill of anxiety he couldn’t quite tamp down.

“You’re certain you want to do this?” Hermann asked gently.

Newt tore his gaze away from the water and looked into Hermann’s concerned face. He nodded. “Yeah, man. We drove all this way. I’m sick of being scared of shit, y’know?”

Hermann reached over and squeezed his hand. “I know.”

They crossed the sand arm-in-arm, Newt carrying the umbrella and oversized beach bag. Hermann stumbled a little on the sand, and Newt threw their belongings down ungracefully a safe distance away from the tide. He set up the umbrella and spread out their towels, and then immediately yanked his shirt off and tossed it to the ground.

Hermann lowered himself onto one of the towels, laying his cane carefully beside him. “Do put on sunscreen, Newton, or you’ll burn.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Newt said dismissively. “You’re not gonna get in the water?” he added, mournfully eyeing Hermann’s linen shirt, still resolutely buttoned to the collar.

“Not just yet, no,” Hermann said. He dug around in their bag until he retrieved a large, floppy sun hat, a pair of sunglasses, and a sudoku book. “But you have fun, darling.”

“You’re such a grandpa,” Newt teased, and Hermann swatted at his leg as Newt laughed and danced out of reach. “Whatever. I’m gonna catch some waves, bro.” He did the “hang loose” gesture with both hands as he walked backwards away from Hermann.

“Newton! Sunscreen!” Hermann called after him. Newt stuck his tongue out and sprinted the rest of the way to the water’s edge.

The anxiety crawled into his throat again as the sand grew damp under his bare feet, but then he felt the water lap against his ankles and his toes sunk a little into the sand and oh, he’d missed this. He’d missed the beach feeling like a place where he could be at peace, instead of one that filled him with dread. He closed his eyes, tilting his head up towards the sun and letting himself sink into the wet sand for a minute or two. It was late in the afternoon, and this stretch of beach was empty save for the seagulls and a couple crabs scuttling across the shore.

Newt glanced behind him and saw Hermann had donned his hat and sunglasses, reclining under the umbrella and deep in concentration over his sudoku puzzles. His skinny legs were absurdly pale in his swim trunks, and Newt was overwhelmed with affection at the sight of him. He was still smiling sappily when Hermann glanced up and waved.

“You look like a nerd!” Newt called over to him. Hermann frowned. “A cute nerd!” Newt amended.

“I thought you were ‘catching waves’?” Hermann replied. He set down his puzzle book and lowered his sunglasses enough to give Newt a _look_ down the end of his nose.

“Make that a _hot_ nerd,” Newt muttered to himself. He stepped further into the water, up to his knees, and yelped when a wave crashed up against his stomach. “Fuck! It’s cold!”

Once he got over the initial temperature shock, Newt spent a good twenty minutes dicking around in the water, splashing about and roaming up and down the beach looking for cool shells. He carried a handful of his finds back over to Hermann, who grumbled about Newt dripping water all over the place. Newt couldn’t even be bothered to retort, because he’d just noticed that Hermann had unbuttoned his shirt, his bare chest peeking out from the loose fabric, and Newt promptly dropped the shells he was holding so he could bend down, pluck Hermann’s sunglasses off his face, and kiss him.

“Newton! You’re getting me wet,” Hermann groused. Newt smirked, but Hermann smacked him on the arm before he could get out the innuendo. “You’re insatiable.”

“Oh please, like you didn’t know exactly what you were doing with this,” Newt said, toying with the open front of Hermann’s shirt. Hermann’s coy smile was all the answer he needed. Newt swooped in to kiss him again, open-mouthed and needy. One of Hermann’s hands slid down Newt’s lower back and dipped beneath the waistband of his swim trunks, and Newt grinned against Hermann’s mouth. Newt’s hands skimmed along Hermann’s bare chest, thumbs brushing against his nipples, and Hermann gasped.

“Newton, we’re in public,” he murmured.

Newt pulled back, delighted at the shade of red Hermann had turned. “Says the guy with his hand down my pants,” he pointed out. Hermann’s blush deepened, but he didn’t remove his hand. “You’re so grabby today,” Newt teased.

“Can you blame me?” Hermann asked, eyes roaming Newt’s sea-damp torso appreciatively. He squeezed Newt’s ass, and Newt yelped in surprise. Hermann looked smug, so Newt kissed him again, with just enough tongue to be borderline indecent. Hermann now looked closer to flustered. _Score one for Geiszler._

 

Eventually they stopped making out because Newt wanted to use the shells he’d gathered to make a sand castle. Which ended up being a mistake, because Hermann was weirdly competitive about sand castles and totally commandeered the whole thing. Okay, it was kind of cute how into it he was, and the little fist pump he did when he had enough of the round white shells to border the entire main wall was so precious Newt almost laughed out loud.

When Hermann deemed their masterpiece complete, he retrieved his instant camera from their bag and snapped a photo. As soon as the polaroid came out, Newt made grabby hands for the camera.

“I wanna take one of you,” he said.

Hermann frowned. “I don’t want to waste the film.”

“It wouldn’t be _wasting_ it, you look hot,” Newt retorted. “Come on, please?”

With a sigh, Hermann handed over the camera. “Go on, then.” He gave Newt a deeply unamused look as Newt took the picture.

“Ooh, _severe_ ,” Newt said, grinning as he pulled the photo from the top of the camera. “Thanks, babe. I’m gonna keep this in my wallet.”

“Enough,” Hermann said, snatching the camera back. He was still frowning, but Newt could tell by the pink tips of his ears that he was pleased. “Here now, let me take one of you.”

Newt was all too happy to oblige, striking a dramatic pose while Hermann took the photo from an admittedly unflattering angle. Newt dropped down beside Hermann as soon as the photo came out. “What do you think? Wallet-worthy?”

Hermann watched the photo start to develop, smiling faintly. He kissed Newt’s cheek. “Yes, I think so.”

 

It wasn’t long before the sun was setting. Newt was laying on his stomach with his head propped up on his arms, watching the sky turn pink and orange. He’d stolen Hermann’s sunglasses, big round ones that absolutely dwarfed Newt’s face, and had them shoved up on top of his head. Hermann sat beside him, legs kicked out in the sand, an idle hand trailing up and down Newt’s back.

A woman and her young son walked along the shore a few yards away, the little boy pointing at seagulls and laughing loud enough to carry over the sound of the waves. Newt smiled to himself.

“It was a good idea to come here today,” Hermann said. His fingers traced over each notch in Newt’s spine, sending a pleasant shiver through him.

“Yeah,” Newt agreed. “It’s nice to remember how beautiful the world still is.” He pointed out at the horizon. “I don’t think I ever fully appreciated sunsets, before…” he trailed off. Hermann knew what he meant, anyway.

“For a long time,” Hermann said, his voice softer, lost in his thoughts, “I didn’t think I would ever have days like this again.” His hand stilled against Newt’s back, and Newt shifted so he could look up at him. Hermann was staring at the ocean, his expression far away and brooding. “I thought I had lost any chance of another peaceful afternoon. With you.”

Newt reached out to grab Hermann’s bare ankle, squeezing it gently. “Hey, c’mon. You deserve this more than anyone. Well, I mean, the peaceful day at the beach part. It sounds weird and conceited if I say you _deserve_ me, like, you deserve the greatest man on the planet and I’m not sure I —”

“Newton,” Hermann interrupted. He was looking at Newt now, amusement tugging at his lips. Newt could still see the distress behind his eyes, the faint worried crease of his brow. Newt sat up and cupped Hermann’s face in his hands. He tried to memorize every angle, every inch — the laughter lines crinkling at the edges of Hermann’s eyes; the soft curve of his mouth, twitched up in a questioning smile.

Through decades and two near-apocalypses and more burden than any one man should ever have to bear, Hermann had chosen to stay with Newt. Again and again, more than _Newt_ could possibly deserve. Newt’s heart felt suddenly overfull, and he pressed a tender kiss to Hermann’s forehead. “I’m so goddamn lucky,” he murmured. “To have this, you, after I… after everything.”

“Newton,” Hermann said again, gentler this time. “It is and always has been a privilege to love you. Please don’t doubt that, _Mein Geliebter_.”

Newt, unable to find words capable of encompassing all that he felt in that moment, kissed Hermann instead. Hermann’s hand tangled in Newt’s salt-crusted hair, and the world narrowed to a point that was only the space between their mouths, the familiar brush of their fingers.

At dusk, Newt packed up their beach bag and the two men walked arm-in-arm again, back to the car. Newt convinced Hermann to allow the disassembly of their sand castle masterpiece so that he could bring the shells home. He kept them in a mason jar on the kitchen counter from then on, an ever-present, fond reminder.

**Author's Note:**

> i always love comments y'all validate me every day <3 i'm on twitter @hermanngottiieb and tumblr @joshuawashinton !! i yell about my undying love for hermann gottlieb every second of every day. come say hi.


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